Pacific men's volleyball program eliminated

STOCKTON - University of the Pacific president Pamela Eibeck officially terminated the men's volleyball program on Thursday as part of the university's $15 million Focus on the Future initiative.

Jagdip Dhillon

STOCKTON - University of the Pacific president Pamela Eibeck officially terminated the men's volleyball program on Thursday as part of the university's $15 million Focus on the Future initiative.

The program will cease on June 30, 2014, after 21 years at the NCAA Division I level under coach Joe Wortmann. On Wednesday, Wortmann and the players were informed of the decision by Eibeck and athletic director Ted Leland in a meeting inside the athletic department building. It's the first athletic program Pacific has cut since football in 1995.

In August, Leland recommended cutting the program to Eibeck, who is seeking 5 to 7 percent budget cuts across campus to fund the initiative. Last month, Leland revised his recommendation and said the program could continue, if it could be self-sufficient at a cost of about $200,000 per year. Eibeck, who declined interview requests on Thursday, ultimately decided to end the program.

"(Leland) and I have also determined that there will be no opportunity for external fundraising to preserve the team's varsity status," Eibeck wrote in a letter posted on the university's website.

Leland said Pacific's move to the West Coast Conference, which doesn't offer the sport, and the program's record on the court - 83-208 since 2004 - also factored into the decision to eliminate the program, instead of making cuts to other sports.

"In the end, my feeling was whatever we did fundraising-wise, we'd never be at a point where it wasn't an issue year to year," Leland said. "I just felt you couldn't fund a Division I program in that way long term."

The men's volleyball program has 3.75 scholarships split among the 21 student-athletes on the team. Leland said the scholarships already awarded will be honored as long as the student-athlete is enrolled at Pacific. Those who decide to transfer may do so without penalty from the NCAA. Wortmann said it has been an emotionally taxing six weeks, and he remains worried about the underclassmen and their futures.

"I went out in good faith and brought in some very talented recruits and I wouldn't have done that if I knew this was going to happen," Wortmann said.

The decision has angered some parents, including Edgardo F. Cartagena, whose son, Edgardo, is a sophomore and came to play at Pacific from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

"We feel really betrayed by the administration," Cartagena said. "They treated the players like employees, and not like students. It was just a business decision. I can't believe they told us the first week of classes instead of last summer when we all could have made our moves and planned for the changes."

Said Leland, "The timing is really lousy, but unavoidable considering the university's process."

Chris Ender, father of sophomore Griffin Ender, was disappointed by how the administration "left the kids in limbo for weeks" and said he realized this was likely going to be the final decision when a newly formed fundraising committee that included Wortmann, parents and athletic department officials was told by Eibeck's office a few weeks ago not to begin working until she had made a final decision.

Wortmann lauded his players and how they handled the process. They started a petition on Change.org that generated more than 7,000 signatures, as of Thursday evening, and spoke at open forums and meetings, and remained upbeat throughout.

"When there is a death - and this is a death of the program - you go through frustration, anger, denial and sadness," Wortmann said. "We wouldn't be human if we didn't go through that, but we can channel all that energy for something positive, which is our season."

Pacific's final season will run from January to April and making it historic has become the team's mantra, according to senior captain Javier Caceras. On Wednesday, he said his teammates gathered after learning of the decision and held an open-gym practice.

"The decision is not easy to take, but we knew whatever the decision was, we have a duty to play our season and represent this school," Caceras said. "We've grown so much as a team in the past (six weeks) and definitely become a family. It's something that's going to allow us to be better on and off the court."